Rest In Peace, Rachael Lillis: Looking At Her 'Pokemon' Characters' Most Memorable Moments

On August 10, 2024, the anime dub industry lost an icon when voice actress Rachael Lillis passed away after a brief, tragic battle with an agressive form of Breast Cancer. While a seasoned voice actress with roles in a wide range of projects, to most kids who grew up in the 90s and early 2000s she will always be best known for her work on the first eight seasons of the Pokemon anime.

During those eight seasons, Lillis performed the English dub voices for both Ash Ketchum's original travelling companion Misty Waterflower, and Jessie, one third of the villainous Team Rocket. On top of these more major roles, Lillis also performed vocal effects for a number of Pokemon in the dub.

In memory of this talented voice artist, let's look back at some of the most memorable moments of Rachael Lillis's characters.

Misty meets Ash and Pikachu

Misty makes her debut in the latter half of Pokemon's very first episode, accidentally hooking Ash Ketchum and his injured Pikachu on her fishing line after they had fallen into the river while fleeing a flock of angry Spearow. Misty reads Ash the riot act regarding Pikachu's poor condition, pointing him in the direction of the nearest Pokemon Centre. Unfortunately for Misty, the Spearow are still in pursuit, and Ash 'borrows' her bicycle to escape.

By the time she catches up to Ash in the following episode, her bike has been destroyed by the large Thunderbolt attack that Pikachu used to defeat the Spearow. Misty vows to stick with Ash until he replaces the bike, and an iconic friendship is born. Misty becomes a vital resource for Ash in the early episodes, often informing him on aspects of the Pokemon world he was not aware of.

Misty battles Ash at the Cerulean City Gym

Misty initially tries to discourage Ash from visiting Cerulean City, but as the city has a Gym where he will be able to challenge for his second Pokemon League badge, Ash will not be dissuaded. It soon becomes apparent that Misty's reluctance is due to being the younger sister of Cerulean City Gym Leaders the Waterflowers. Misty's sisters, discouraged by recent losses, wish to turn the Gym into a theatre for their new show, and offer Ash his Cascade Badge without a challenge.

Misty, unwilling to allow this, reminds them that she is also a qualified Gym Leader, and agrees to battle Ash. Unfortunately, the battle is interrupted by Team Rocket. Ash is granted the Cascade Badge for his help defending the Gym, but the unfinished battle remains a bone of contention for Misty, who cannot help reminding Ash prior to his Vermillion Gym challenge that neither of his first two badges were won via battle victories.

Misty befriends Horsea

Early in the episode 'Tentacool and Tentacruel', Ash and friends discover an injured Horsea in the town of Porta Vista. Horsea is wary of the group at first, but Misty earns it's trust, allowing her to treat it's wounds. The new bond between Misty and Horsea prompts it to warn the group of the impending attack on Porta Vista by a group of Tentacool and it's giant evolved form, Tentacruel, who are angered by planned developments that will destroy water Pokemon habitats.

Together, Misty and Horsea are able to dissuade Tentacruel from completely destroying the town, and Horsea allows Misty to capture it.

The Song of Jigglypuff

Shortly after an unpleasant pit-stop in Neon City, where the populace never sleeps and are thus grumpy and irritable, our heroes encounter a wild Jigglypuff with dreams of stardom. While the group are eager to help, Jigglypuff's song continually puts Ash, Misty, Brock, and all their Pokemon to sleep.

Misty hatches what she thinks is a brilliant plan to have Jigglypuff sing in Neon City. Unfortunately, Jigglypuff's song continues to have a soporific effect, knocking out the whole city. Angered, Jigglypuff draws on everyone's faces with a microphone/marker. On the bright side, the much needed nap makes Neon City's residents considerably more pleasant to be around. Jigglypuff becomes a recurring figure through the show's early seasons, following the group in the hope of finding someone to listen to it's whole song, often appearing to sing everyone to sleep at what are usually oddly convenient moments for the heroes.

Jigglypuff remains one of the most iconic Pokemon of the Kanto era, and Rachael Lillis's archive recordings are still used for Jigglypuff in the Super Smash Bros. video games, and were also used for the live-action film Detective Pikachu.

Snowgasboard

The episode 'Snow Way Out' surprisingly gave fans a peak into the backstory of Team Rocket's Jessie. Snow Days were the high-points of Jessie's self-proclaimed 'otherwise wretched' childhood, as they allowed her Mother to prepare 'Snowgasboards', a selection of Jessie's favourite dishes, albeit all made from snow.

Jessie's joy in her childhood memory is a bittersweet moment, particularly for older viewers who will more easily understand the implication that she grew up in poverty. The scene adds depth to a character who could easily be dismissed as a one-dimensional goofy villain.

Mermaid Misty

After making a return visit to Cerulean Gym to give an ill Horsea a chance to swim in real water rather than just fountains, Misty is reluctantly roped into performing as a mermaid in her sisters' underwater show. Unfortunately, Team Rocket crash the performance hoping to steal the gym's Pokemon. Misty, proving her skill as a Water-Type Trainer, expertly instructs the Cerulean Gym Pokemon to victory against Team Rocket.

A rare opportunity for the sidekick to become the main hero, this is remembered as one of Misty's most iconic moments, with the 'Mermaid Misty' design still inspiring fan art even today.

"He's Got.. Me"

Misty spends a significant chunk of Pokemon the Movie 2000's runtime insisting that Ash is not her boyfriend. Despite this, she is not ashamed of being there for him when he needs, even risking her life swimming into a stormy ocean to save Ash and Pikachu.

These scenes make 2000 a favourite for fans of 'PokeShipping', ie, naming their preferred romantic relationship in the show as Misty and Ash.

Misty vs Molly

More than the previous two films, Pokemon 3: Spell of the Unown requires a group effort to resolve the troubles at hand. Once Brock is defeated by the illusion of Molly Hale and her dream Pokemon, it is Misty's turn to stay behind and battle, allowing Ash to continue ahead and rescue the real Molly, as well as his kidnapped Mother, Delia Ketchum, from the crystal castle and illusionary Entei created by the mysterious Unown.

Misty's battle with Molly is much friendlier in nature than Brock's was, as Misty allows herself to remember that Molly is only a young child despite her illusion appearing older. Misty allows herself, and Molly, to have fun as they battle, and discusses how much fun she will one day have with a 'real' battle. Though Misty is still defeated, this marks the beginning of the breakdown of Molly's defenses.

Misty and Ash say Goodbye

As mentioned earlier, Misty initially began travelling with Ash only to get him to replace her destroyed bicycle. Occasionally, when she is finding Ash particularly annoying, Misty reiterates her original claim that she is only travelling with Ash because of the bike. After returning to Kanto once their travels through the Johto region have come to an end, the group passes by the Viridian City Pokemon Centre, where Nurse Joy returns Misty's bike, which has been repaired.

Misty is initially disappointed at the loss of her convenient excuse to join Ash on his planned journey to the Hoenn region, but the decision of whether to go anyway is soon taken out of her hands when she receives a summons home to assume Leadership of Cerulean Gym while her sisters take their underwater show on the road. Misty and Ash share a bittersweet goodbye, but promise to see each other again.

This scene marked Lillis's final performance of Misty as a series regular, but she continued to perform the dub voice for Jessie during the first two Hoenn-era seasons.

Jessie falls in love with her Dustox

Early in the Hoenn episodes, Ash's new travelling companion, May, and Team Rocket's Jessie each capture and raise a Wurmple. May's evolves into a Silcoon, then a Beautifly, and Jessie is eager for her own Pokemon to achieve the same level. Unfortunately, James and Meowth realise that Jessie's Wurmple has taken a divergent path, becoming a Cascoon, and thus destined to instead evolve into the moth Pokemon Dustox.

The pair try to keep this information from Jessie, fearing she will be angry or disappointed.

When Cascoon does evolve, Jessie is surprised, but ultimately decides Dustox is better than May's Beautifly, and develops one of the closest relationships with it of any Pokemon she had previously kept. Jessie may be a criminal, but one of her main redeeming qualities is love for her Pokemon.

Misty overcomes her fear to befriend and train Gyarados

While Misty is a lover of all Water-type Pokemon, she spent most of her life with a fear of Magikarp's powerful but difficult evolved form, Gyarados, due to a traumatic incident from her childhood. Unfortunately, the Pokemon Chronicles episode 'Cerulean Blues' has Misty return to assume leadership of the Cerulean Gym only to discover that her sisters have left behind a recently-evolved Gyarados that is causing chaos. Gyarados is tormenting the Gym's other Pokemon, causing damage, and refusing to return to it's Pokeball. If Misty cannot bring it under control, Cerulean Gym is at risk of being ruled unsafe and shut down.

When her initial attempts to calm Gyarados and convince it to return to it's ball fail, Misty is reluctantly forced to cage it within the Gym's pool. Soon after, the arrogant Invincible Pokemon Brothers challenge Misty to a battle for Leadership of the Gym. When this battle doesn't go their way, the brothers order their Pokemon to attack the caged Gyarados. Misty dives into the water to block the attacks, almost drowning in the process, but her brave act finally earns Gyarados's trust. It breaks free of it's cage to rescue Misty, then takes it upon itself to eject the Invincible Pokemon Brothers from the Gym.

Despite her fear, and Gyarados seeming to be nothing but trouble, Misty refused to give up on it. When Misty later visits Ash in Hoenn, she has embraced and claimed Gyarados as her own Pokemon rather than one just belonging to the gym.

Misty says Goodbye to Togetic

One of Misty's closest and most enduring relationships with a Pokemon is the one she shared with her Togepi. Misty raised Togepi from infancy after it imprinted on her when it hatched, and was almost always shown carrying it with her throughout her travels in Kanto and Johto.

During a two-episode story arc in the second Hoenn season, Misty visits Ash and Brock in the Hoenn region after supposedly receiving an invitation to a convention for Togepi trainers. Instead, Misty and Togepi are inadvertently caught up in the succession crisis of the Mirage Kingdom. Finding a Togepi is an omen deciding the Kingdom's next leader, and the evil Colonel Hansen wants to use Misty's Togepi to snatch the throne from the current heir apparent, Princess Sara.

While attempting to thwart Hansen's plot, the group stumble upon a secret Togepi paradise, and Misty's Togepi evolves into a Togetic to protect the other Togepi from Hansen. Togetic decides to stay to protect both the Togepi Paradise and the Mirage Kingdom. She and Misty say a tearful goodbye as she releases it into it's new Home.

To add an extra bittersweet note, Misty's goodbye to Togetic was one of the final scenes Rachael Lillis recorded as Misty. In later appearances, due to a new dubbing company taking over Pokemon, Misty, and eventually Jessie, are voiced by Michelle Knots.

Rest In Peace, Rachael Lillis. The first generation of Pokemaniacs will never forget Misty Waterflower.